


O Willow Soft

by belladeum



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: (they're unimportant), Dryad AU, F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Human Names Used, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Minor Injuries, Nymphs & Dryads, a sort of whimsical and tender moment i wanted to capture...., lili is a cute patoot and natalia loves her very much, mention of other characters, soft touches are best
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 14:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,052
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16087892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/belladeum/pseuds/belladeum
Summary: “Are you sure you’re well enough to be sitting here? You should take care of yourself rather than meet me.”“I want to meet you,” she said. “You’re precious to me.”In which the willow Natalya is injured and Lili wishes to comfort her. And, sitting by the river under the bright sun, neither wishes to leave the other's side. || Reupload. Written in 2015 ||





	O Willow Soft

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for Femslash February 2015 but I'm still fond of it so I tweaked it for ao3. I guess warning for description of minor injury but nothing gory. I had a whole background for Frnacis adn Alistair and Arthur but i can't remember all of it now, unfortunately, since I never finished the companion fic. Ah well. Enjoy some fluffy Belaliech softness.

Natalya was where she normally was, by the edge of the river, on the grassy banks that keeled over into the sparkling waters.

She was quiet and distant in her solitude, body pale and shining in the gleam of the water as she sat tending to her weeping wound.

Lili’s feet brushed against the long sweeping tufts of dew-laden grass as she tiptoed closer, away from the dim and dappled shade of the forest and into the open stretch before the river. This was the arrangement as always: she would approach with silence and hesitancy so as to still Natalya’s heart, lest she become too wary too quickly at her fast pace or own excitement, and Natalya would wait still until they drew side by side. Lili’s toes curled in the soil a few feet away, her breath stolen by the gaping jagged scar that ripped through flesh and pulp to the dry and brittle bone beneath, hollow and pale in the mid-morning glow. The sun was high above the crest of the downs, and yet Lili could not really appreciate its warmth with the sickening thought of that hole torn into her most dearest, the discomfort of wondering if it may happen to her. She wriggled her toes free of the roots she was setting down, and the tiny tendrils retracted and snapped with little more sensation running through her than the wind may caress against Natalya’s back – she felt not a thing for the tiny loss.

Lili drew in breath quickly, the rush dizzying as always, still not used to her lithe bipedal form. The air was far richer here than among the dense overgrowth, for what was a tiny little shrub of a nymph to do among towering giants? Most were kind and simply very old, and had little more to do than pass the time singing and growing and shedding, but there were those, not at all the exception, who were mean and sapped the soil where it was not necessary, and simply _had_ to show her how it was done. Carbon dioxide was plentiful by the river where only sweet slumbering grass and the clusters of tiny flower-folk of one mind grew.

Lili blinked. She resumed closing the little distance between them and sat beside Natalya with a small glance in her direction. The willow said not a word, and let her wide gash weep for her, a trickle of sticky and oozing sap that withered her skin and made the sugary ichor inside Lili turn bitter until she wanted to reject her own leg. Best to leave an injury like that behind, lest it hinder you.

“I thought you had closed it up,” she prompted gently, seeing as Natalya had no desire to initiate conversation, but unsure if she would want one, or continue.

Natalya glanced up from between her silver locks, clumping into thick coiled strands that fell into a sheet against her face and draped over her shoulders into the water below. Her eyes were, as always, stunning pools of mercury. Her lips were cracked but her skin was leathery and strong. Her cheeks were flushed a vivid green, and Lili suspected her own betrayed the same fleeting rush of affection. Such a trivial response would fade.

“I did. I thought I bound it well; it won’t stay shut.” She looked down at it again and ran her fingers along the crusted edge.

Lili frowned. Such an awful wound… it split open her foreleg wide, and Lili could only imagine the wide curling at the base of Natalya’s trunk, the wrenching and scattering of her bark, in pieces under the shadows of her leaves, and the pale and porous innards. How was she supposed to grow when she could not sustain her branches above her? Lili reached out and pressed a dainty hand over Natalya’s own without thinking, reflex.

“Have they come back?”

Natalya shook her head. She had her suspicions that the stumbling, steel-wielding humans would not ever wish to approach her humble overhang again, and she could only devise that this was because of her brother’s interference. Oh he may loath her, fear her for her constant gaze and the brush of her leaves into the water, his domain, but in the end they were family, twinned by the bedrock and co-dependence. She could have only assumed that the soft and webby wreaths plucked from the waters and left by her as she shook, grasping at her newly formed humanoid leg were a gift. They did not help graft her bark back into place, so the skin lay dead and open to crumbling on the riverside where she’d taken root decades ago. She appreciated the gesture, though.

Lili could see the small bundle of weeds following Natalya’s stare behind her, a few strewn about and most bent or snapped. It didn’t matter since they were dead besides, and they had no spirit tied to them. They were but mindless plants.

“Natalya?” she whispered. The willow shivered and turned to her with a small frown. Lili halted her apology. “Are you sure you’re well enough to be sitting here? You should take care of yourself rather than meet me.”

“I want to meet you,” she said. “You’re precious to me.”

Lili inhaled sharply and felt a dizzying rush, not merely from the inspiration this time. Her hand tightened upon Natalya’s.

“But still…” Lili felt torn between staying her forlorn gaze and her desire to tear away, not to even think about such a violence inflicted on their kind. Natalya was not showing any sort of pain, though her injury must have pained her greatly indeed. It only worsened when she tried to move it.

“All is well,” Natalya said. “It just… rather hurts.”

Lili flinched at the thought but smiled all the same. Natalya tried very hard not to use foul language around her, if only because her brother would certainly stop them seeing each other if he knew what influence that could have on her… if he knew that they were seeing each other at all. Such a good heart, but so oppressive and scared of loss. Lili could not feel safer around either of them.

“Is there anything I can do?”

Natalya shook her head.

“It’ll heal, just slowly. I may have to rest within my dwelling for a while. I wanted to let you know, since I may not be able to see you for some time otherwise.” Natalya tossed her hair over her left shoulder so it fell away from her face. It was a solemn one, suited for a willow, but it was beautiful and grave.

“I want to stay with you though,” she continued.

Lili’s hands tightened reflexively at her words, and she heard Natalya chuckle. She looked up with wide and hopeful eyes to Natalya’s rare smile – _breathtaking._

“I’d stay with you if I could, in a heartbeat!” Lili’s heart pounded. She was sure it would burst. Unaccustomed to showing such emotion, she didn’t not know how to calm herself. But it was true. If she could pull up her roots from her home in the forest and settle on the banks of this beautiful river, then she would. She would stay under Natalya’s hunched spine and sweeping branches, under the caress of her many leaves and the sparkling, filtered sun, and then they could see each other whenever they wanted.

Natalya reached out and tucked a lock of golden hair behind the shell of her ear, tinged bright and green with her flush. He fingers stilled by Lili’s cheek, and she leant into them, so warm and kind.

“I do not doubt it; I feel the same. I am bound here, but, like Francis, like Alistair, even you could not leave.” Lili wondered what it was like for Francis to constantly have to move to where he could see his beloved in his garden, yet never stay; what it was like for Alistair to move freely among the trees but be so far from home, unable to truly return.

“But thank you for saying that. It – I can’t really find the words. I am so very happy to hear it.” Natalya laughed with embarrassment and the sound was dizzying, like music, the sway and rustle of her slim, serrated leaves in the breeze and the parting of water around them. Lili beamed. She was sure she must be flowering early with all this smiling, all this joy. Her sunny petals opened wide and her leaves full and scent strong. She certainly felt that way, regardless of what her true body may look like, still inconspicuous among giants.

“Me too – I – I want to stay with you, really, and I’m really happy that you want to as well!” The hamadryad flushed and looked away, her pale skin glowing and her fingers trembling against Lili’s cheek. Her nails tickled.

Lili bit her lip and took a chance. She knew Natalya didn’t like it when there were sudden movements, nor when she felt like she couldn’t move freely, but Lili really couldn’t help herself.

The young nymph let go of Natalya’s hand and flung her arms around her strong form, feeling her body so solid yet so soft and rounded under her skin, and she pulled her close. Her skin smelt of sap and wet grass and her hair of bird feathers. Her mouth was filled with the flavour of the river’s hard water. Natalya tensed and Lili muttered a flustered apology and slackened, pulled away until she was just leaning against Natalya’s arm.

“I didn’t, um…”

“Shall we lie down?” Natalya said. Lili looked to her. The willow was radiant. “It will be more comfortable.”

And with that Natalya eased herself onto her back amongst the accommodating blades of grass that flitted about her skin and swayed in the gentle breeze. Lili followed suit with a smile, joy taking over her body and filling her with a buzz not akin to the happy bumbling of insects, the flutter of a dragonfly’s wings inside her chest.

Lili sidled up to her and lay her head on Natalya’s collar. It was soft and warm and safe and she breathed out funny, content.

“What a dreamy sigh,” Natalya commented. She started to play with her hair, fingers winding into Lili’s short tresses and musing over her scalp. “Does it feel good?”

Lili wasn’t sure to which sensation she was referring, but everything felt so peaceful and right as she answered with a confirmatory hum and let her body sink into the soil. Her toes curled. She wanted to hold Natalya closer, and she took the lack of objection to her fingers moving over Natalya’s smooth stomach to mean that she was fine with it, so Lili wrapped an arm around her once more.

“I want to spend my days like this with you,” she breathed when Natalya’s left hand settled upon her shoulder and rubbed it tenderly. The motions were fluid and soothing and Lili wondered if she simply wasn’t used to it, because Natalya must feel the wind and the water so often out in the open, while Lili only felt rain, only felt great gusts as they wound between wide trunks and stripped her leaves. The touch was hot, somehow.

Her body was putting forth roots again, she noticed absently. The heat of the high sun was making her drowsy, and her legs were settling into the soil with an eagerness to soak up its moisture and minerals. She couldn’t even really recall how long they’d spent against each other. Mere moments, probably. Lili could only measure time by the beat of Natalya’s heart in these forms, but it was awfully quick so she couldn’t at all tell. They had no need for timepieces, only the knowledge of night and day and the beckon of the seasons. They didn’t spend enough time in a human’s form normally to warrant any other kind of system. At least the majority didn’t. As a community they were growing bolder again, since humans didn’t seem to have any further business with them than laying down paths and benches through the meadows, keeping their grey district separate to their home.

“Will this feeling pass like the others do?” They rose and fell in great falcon swoops and slow arches of the glorious sun, and ebbed away like the light in winter as seasons passed. Spirits had little need for them inside their shells, their dwellings, they were wholly satisfied as plants.

“I don’t know,” Natalya said. “It’s an enjoyable one. One I only have with you. We can just see how it lasts.”

Lili nodded. She turned her gaze upwards to the steely edge of Natalya’s jaw and the softness of her cheeks and her lucid eyes. Natalya turned down then as well, craning over her and Lili’s body rippled like water, warm sensations passing over her skin and flitting through her insides as Natalya placed a delicate kiss between her brows. Lili blinked and then blushed furiously and felt her roots wriggle and pull up from the soil she became so agitated. Well, agitated wasn’t the right word, since the feeling was entirely wonderful, but it made her restless and giddy. Euphoria, perhaps?

She could feel the vibrations of Natalya chuckling again as she buried her face in the crook of her neck. She didn’t want to be seen acting so silly.

“You’re very sweet aren’t you? Very bashful.”

“Not really,” Lili muttered.

“It’s a shame. The sun is quite hot – I would like to stay.”

“ _Must_ you leave?” Lili sat up, feeling Natalya’s inclination to do so. She pined at the loss of her warmth.

“My leg.”

Lili bit her lip and felt awful for forgetting.

“I’m sorry. I’ve distracted you and it must hurt terribly.”

“It was a good distraction.” Lili felt fingers beneath her chin so she opened her eyes and let them guide her face up. “It lessened the pain. But now I think it’s better if I rest.”

“Your leg,” Lili said with some reservation. The two of them stood now, Natalya tall and graceful and keeping by Lili’s side as they meandered upstream. “Will it heal though? It looks like it will scar badly.”

“It will scar.” She sounded so at ease about it Lili wondered if she had heard correctly. But perhaps that’s just how it went. Natalya was old. These weren’t the only injuries upon her form: there were pock marks under her arms from boring insects and woodpeckers, and the remnants of sores on her feet, and the pale splintered scar reaching across her forehead that Lili did not see also spread down her back from a lightning strike. Lili knew what it was like to hurt, but not like that. No tree, with spirit or otherwise should have their skin ripped off of them for fun.

Natalya’s limp was not as bad as yesterday’s, but where she could normally overtake Lili’s pace with a single step she struggled and nearly hobbled – such a disgraceful gait for a nymph, who moved as if dancing always – with Lili up to the willow tree. When she stumbled, she accepted Lili’s hand with little fuss.

The tree itself showed no sign of pain beyond the white space where tough bark should be. Lili could see it exposed where branches and draping vines did not reach. She felt a rush of pity for Natalya, but made no move to express it. Natalya didn’t like pity, and she did not like tears if she could avoid them, but she appreciated empathy.

Lili blinked, not realising they had arrived this close to it. She looked back at the direction they’d came, bright, almost harshly so from the cool shadow of the tree, and at Natalya’s winding hair trailing a good sunflower’s worth behind.

“Thank you.” Natalya smiled as the shade of her shimmering leaves enveloped them. They parted like a waterfall as Lili stepped through them.

“Can I stay?” she blurted out and wound her fingers tighter around Natalya’s.

She paused, considering the matter. They both knew they couldn’t remain together, and that at this time of day in this abnormal summer heat it was better to rest and take in sunlight, especially given Natalya’s condition, but neither wanted to part.

“Alright,” she said slowly and Lili giggled in her excitement. The childish outpour made Natalya chuckle, too. “How about we rest here for a small while. We can sleep, but I will be gone when you wake up. Is that fair?”

“Yes, yes it is.” It wasn’t, but Lili knew they didn’t want to say goodbye. It wasn’t something they did. And she didn’t know really how long Natalya would be asleep for. She would visit her here, of course, but it wasn’t the same. Lili didn’t want to spend even a full moon without Natalya’s company.

Natalya made herself comfortable by the base of the tree trunk she inhabited and beckoned Lili to join her. Her footsteps were light as she hurried to her side, and her breath quick in anticipation. Natalya accepted her enthusiasm with raised brows and open arms that Lili fit into perfectly. She leant her head on Natalya’s shoulder.

“I’ll stay with you,” she said.

“And I with you,” Natalya replied gently, her breath soft against Lili’s skin.

Lili smiled. Sitting beside Natalya in the shade of her tree was exactly how she’d imagined and sorrow blossomed in her breast with the subsequent knowledge that she couldn’t have this always. She shook it away, pushed at it until it was squashed deep down in the tiniest furrow of her brow and tension in her legs, and instead began to hum softly.

“You sing beautifully,” Natalya said, voice drifting away in dreariness.

Lili obliged and spun soft tales of her love, her admiration, her desire and her wonder of Natalya, all the while growing tired and peaceful in their secluded haven. Her eyes and limbs grew heavy like snow laden branches, and her voice lulled was soon quiescent, a mere whisper among their breathing. She stopped and sighed.

“Rest well.”

Lili found her hand enclosed within Natalya’s before she finally found sleep, the sound of the wind through the leaves just touching her ears.


End file.
